Local News

Body found in Wiggins identified

Three arrested on warrants from Larimer County

The body found in Wiggins by Morgan County Sheriff's deputies on Saturday has been identified as a missing man from Fort Collins.

Fort Collins Police Services issued a press release on Wednesday confirming the body's identity as 20-year-old Devon Smeltz, who was reported missing by family members on Aug. 26. The release also said that three men from Cincinnati, Ohio, had been arrested in Illinois on warrants issued by Larimer County Courts in connection with Smeltz's death. Michael Gresham, 20, Lawrence Greggs, 20, and Joshua Baker, 21, will be facing charges of first-degree murder.

A multi-agency investigation into Smeltz's disappearance was already underway when his body was found. According to the Morgan County Sheriff's Office, investigators quickly began treating the death as a homicide.

Wednesday's press release said that Fort Collins police obtained a warrant for the arrest of Gresham, Greggs and Baker for murder on Sept. 5. The three suspects had already been in the custody of authorities in Vermilion County, Illinois, ever since Aug. 27, when they were stopped by state police for traffic violations and "arrested on charges unrelated to the missing person investigation."

Due to the ongoing investigation, Fort Collins police are not releasing any other details about Smeltz's disappearance and death. But they are asking anyone with information about the case to contact Detective Siobhan Seymour at 970-416-2195.

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Lieutenant Jon Horton, of the Morgan County Sheriff's Office, said he does not believe his department will play a large role in the investigation going forward. The suspected homicide seems to have taken place outside Morgan County.

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